thoughts . . . mostly about knitting . . . and some about music

Stick a fork in it . . . it’s done!

I actually have quite a bit to share today. My last post was a laundry list of unfinished projects and a sincere hope to get something finished. I’ve finished several things on the list . . . plus some additions.

I finished the Simple Skyp Socks. Unfortunately, I don’t have a photo to share, but I really like them. The pattern was brainless. I used Dragonfly Fiber’s Djinni in the Baltimore Oriole colorway. The yarn is really soft, but I’m not convinced how well it will wear. But they’re lovely and I’m enjoying them.

Hypoteneuse finished quickly and blocked nicely! I posted photos of it on Rav yesterday, and I swear it wasn’t up 5 minutes and I had a message from Anne Hanson. That woman is on top of things! She seems to be as amazing as her wonderful designs. Hypoteneuse was knit in Briar Rose Fiber’s Fourth of July. Here’s a view:

And another:

On the subject of Anne Hanson . . . I finished Cradle Me with time to spare. The recipient, Nicholas, is due at the end of December.

And a better pic of the stitch pattern . . .

Here’s a project that wasn’t on the list. Shur’tugal! A shur’tugal is a dragon rider. This is the first Alice Yu pattern I’ve knitted. I LOVE IT!! It was fun, easy to memorize, knitted fast and made, I think, a great looking sock! I hope this is a sign of her patterns for Bloodlines! I used Dream In Color’s Everlasting in the Storm colorway. Sadly, the 420 yd skein was just not quite enough. I ended up buying another skein and have about 400 yds left. That’s ok . . . I already have plans for the remaining. :-)

I did not do her heel. She designed a beautiful heel, but it was a bit fussier than I wanted. I would have done her fancy toe, but I didn’t read ahead. I knitted on as I normally would and by the time I looked at the pattern, it was too late to do her toe. I wasn’t about to rip it out . . . I think it came out just fine with my usual toe. Here’s a better shot of the stitch pattern:

My grandmother always used to accuse me of getting the cart before the horse. That was definitely the case in the next project. When Ellen, Angie and I were at The Loopy Ewe a few weeks ago, we saw Spud and Chloe Sweater yarn. It’s beautiful . . . wool and cotton and incredibly soft. I loved Grape Jelly . . . a deep purple. I wanted the yarn. I had thought about knitting Humphrey, a sweater vest on Knitty. I decided this would be a good yarn for it. Well, this yarn wasn’t quite the right gauge. No problem . . . I can re-figure the math to the appropriate gauge. I don’t like the ribbing on Humphrey–there’s not enough of it to look balanced. No problem I can add ribbing. I don’t like how the pattern gradually increases over the body. For this vest, I would prefer the increase all at once after the ribbing. No problem . . . thanks to the handy little math trick I learned at camp this summer, I can easily space my increases evenly. I didn’t like having three garter ridges above the ribbing, so I just made one (I wanted one to hide the increases). I don’t really care for having the stitch pattern (garter rib) going all the way around. I like how men’s suit vests have the suit fabric on the front and the lining on the back. Ok . . . I’m not going to change yarns for the back, but I can do the stitch pattern in the front and a plain stockinette in the back as an homage to the suit vest. Guess what . . . I don’t think this is Humphrey any more. That’s ok. We can call it Humphrey-inspired. Here’s the start of it:

Talk about hot off the press . . . I just finished blocking Les Abeilles less than an hour ago. I’m really glad to have it finished. It’ a Christmas present, but I may actually give it early. It occurred to me that the recipient might actually be able to wear for a holiday party or something. Here are some blocking photos:

Now I’m going shopping at The Shawl Pin Store (who knew?!) to find the perfect pin to give with it. On the subject of fasteners . . . I ordered new buttons for the Aran. Yes, I have absolutely delightful buttons, but I really think I like these better. Has everyone seen Squid’s amazing Inishmore (which she cleverly turned into a cardigan!)? So beautiful! And topped off with great buttons! Black Water Abbey, Gail’s source for the buttons has a great selection (especially for arans!). But I loved those dragons. Silver wouldn’t work with the gold/brown toned yarn of my Aran, but guess what . . . antique copper!

Hmmm. . . Dragon buttons . . . Dragon rider socks . . . I’m sensing a theme developing here. Gail’s gorgeous sweater and great taste in buttons inspired me to start thinking about that aran again. Today while I was doing the final decreases on Les Abeilles, I watched lots of Elizabeth and Meg hoping to get the knowledge and courage to finish this sweater. Now I HAVE to finish . . . I have these great buttons!